E01¶


Research	R0050 — Journalism Disciplines
Run	2026-03-31-02
Query	Q002
Source	SRC02
Evidence	SRC02-E01
Type	Factual

PCAOB AS 1105 defines a dual-axis evidence evaluation framework with explicit reliability hierarchy

URL: https://pcaobus.org/oversight/standards/auditing-standards/details/AS1105

Extract¶

PCAOB AS 1105 evaluates audit evidence on two axes:

Sufficiency (quantity): Affected by (1) risk of material misstatement (higher risk requires more evidence) and (2) quality of evidence (higher quality reduces quantity needed).

Appropriateness (quality): Composed of two dimensions — relevance and reliability.

Evidence reliability hierarchy (most to least reliable): 1. Evidence from independent, external sources 2. Information produced by the company with effective internal controls 3. Evidence obtained directly by the auditor 4. Original documents (over photocopies/digital) 5. Information dependent on conversion and maintenance controls

Novel concepts not in reference frameworks: 1. Sufficiency-appropriateness dual axis: The explicit formalization that evidence quality and quantity are inversely related — higher quality evidence reduces the amount needed. This quality-quantity tradeoff is implicit in GRADE but never formalized as a principle. 2. Evidence reliability hierarchy by source type: The explicit ranking of evidence by origin (external > internal with controls > direct auditor observation > copies) is more formalized than GRADE's approach. 3. Risk-proportional evidence requirements: Higher-risk assertions require more evidence, formalized as a scaling principle.

Relevance to Hypotheses¶

Hypothesis	Relationship	Strength
H1	Strongly supports	Clearly formal with novel contributions
H2	Contradicts	Multiple novel concepts, not just refinements
H3	Strongly contradicts	Unambiguously formal and structured

Context¶

The auditing framework is particularly relevant because it operates in a domain where evidence evaluation has legal consequences — auditors face personal liability for inadequate evidence evaluation. This creates strong incentives for formalization that are absent in disciplines like journalism.